Viking engine

The Viking engine that powered the Ariane was tested at the DLR’s Lampoldshausen test facility. The development of a completely new engine with turbo pumps began in 1965 as part of the ELDO (European Launcher Development Organisation) programme. The original engine had a thrust (on the ground) of 190 kilonewtons, which was increased to 540 kilonewtons by 1971. This version was called the Viking, and was known as such worldwide. The Ariane programme employed the Viking 2 engine in 1979, now with 611 kilonewtons of thrust, and this was the engine used on Ariane 1. Ariane 2 and 3 flew with the further improved Viking 2B engine rated at 643 kilonewtons. The engine was further modified for the first stage of the Ariane 4: and the Viking 5 engine developed 675 kilonewtons of thrust on the ground and 758 kilonewtons in vacuum. In 2003, the end of the Ariane 4 programme heralded the end of the Viking engine. It was replaced by the Ariane 5's Vulcain engine.